Crews burn explosives-filled home

Crews incinerated a home west of Redding Sunday morning after explosive materials were found there more than a week ago.

The Unified Command including several law enforcement agencies initiated the incineration of the residence at 9021 Chaparral Drive in Redding around 11:45 a.m. Sunday. The most intense burning lasted about an hour.

Allied agency personnel including firefighters, law enforcement, haz-mat, paramedics, public health air quality, and weather monitoring experts were all staged in the area to monitor the situation. Crews waited until winds were calm to initiate the incineration.

The situation began on Thursday, Feb. 6 when the homeowner D. Ray East, 64, blew most of his hand off in an explosion. The Sheriff's Office responded and determined the materials on the property were too volatile to move.

Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said they had found more than 60 pounds of materials including hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (HMTD), high-performance fuels and compounds to build a chlorate mixture known as "poor man's C-4," a military grade plastic explosive.

Investigators have said East told them he was building explosives designed to propel model rockets.

East's attorney denies that quantity of explosives existed in the home, though he said his client did not fight the incineration so as to minimize inconvenience to his neighbors and end the situation as soon as possible.

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